


Goose is the best emotional support

by Jaggedwing



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: (kinda), Carol is just mentioned and only shows up in the end, Fluff, Gen, I love her but that's just how it worked, Just all fluff, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Precious Peter Parker, She's actually the best, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Trans Male Character, Trans Peter Parker, Wholesome, goose is a good cat, it's mentioned - Freeform, it's mentioned in chapters but not focused on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:55:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23252077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaggedwing/pseuds/Jaggedwing
Summary: Carol decides to leave Goose with Peter when she's needed for an away mission. During the weekend he has her, Peter shows Goose off to the other people at the Avengers Compound. Some of the reactions are mixed, but how can you not love such an adorable kitty?Tags and characters will be updated as chapters are written/added.
Relationships: Chewie | Goose & Peter Parker, Eddie Brock/Venom Symbiote, Peter Parker & Avengers Team, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Scott Lang & Peter Parker
Comments: 11
Kudos: 293





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Each chapter will vary in length (sorry about that) due to how everything worked out. This first one is, however, on the shorter side. 
> 
> This isn't my first time writing fics, but it is my first post on this site so please forgive me if I mess anything up. I'm not completely sure how everything works and I'm not the best at tagging things. 
> 
> If you find any mistakes throughout the story, please bring it to my attention. I hope anyone that might read this enjoys my silly stories.

**Friday, 3:00 PM**

Tony took one step into Peter’s lab (the kid needed it, especially after the third web fluid explosion) and was rendered speechless. Which was not a task easily completed, but witnessing Peter Parker, his self-proclaimed _son_ , using a ball and string made of webs to play around with an orange tabby made him stop dead. A cat that, not once in his very flavorful lifetime, Tony had ever seen. 

“Peter… the hell is a stray cat doing here? And _why_ are you letting him prance around near sensitive materials.” The engineer couldn’t lie and say the view wasn’t one of the most adorable things he’d seen, but his anxiety would not calm down over this random-ass cat being so close to Peter. 

To his credit, the teen at least looked bashful. However, as soon as Peter saw the look of irritation that Tony was eying the cat with, he pulled the unsuspecting cat close to his chest. Said cat didn’t even flinch and kept his eyes on the ball of the web, also going to the length of snagging a claw into it. 

With anger and defensiveness swimming in his gaze, Peter gave his best (yet still adorable) frown before replying. “ _She_ is not a stray, Mr. Stark! Goose is Carol’s pet, and she asked me to look after her for the weekend.”

He couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of his nose, “Listen, I need to be told these things, Pete! Also! Why the fuck are you on a first-name basis with Captain Marvel but not _me?_ ” Tony slowly sat down on the sleep-worn couch that Pepper demanded was put in the lab. “Who else knows about the ca- sorry- about Goose?”

Goose (what kind of name is _Goose_ anyhow?) squirmed her way from the boy’s grasp and made her way over to Tony’s leg. A couple of sniffs of his grease-stained pants later, and the cat jumped her way onto his lap.

“Um, I think Dr. Banner knows? And Mr. Fury was with Carol to say goodbye to Goose when she was dropped off—“

“Fury was here?” Tony ground out, more than pissed. “That bastard won’t return any of my calls, but he has the time to _see off a cat?!_ ”

His raised voice seemed to have disturbed Goose, seeing as she pawed at Tony’s clothed lap to quiet him. Weird. After Tony had calmed down, before leaving his thighs to take a drink of some water, the cat gave him a purr and what he would call a smile on anything other than a feline. 

“Mr. Fury said to relay you a message—“ Peter was holding back a chuckle, Tony could hear it in the kid’s voice, “he said that, after his interstellar mission, you could meet him at the usual contact point. Wherever that is.”

That pulled a snort from Tony. From the way Peter was acting, there was no doubt that the web-slinger also knew the exact location Fury had meant. 

Tony sighed, “Fine. I’ll put a reminder to head for a donut when he gets back in-state. Don’t let that thing near anything breakable— unless it’s one of Capsicle’s. Actually, throw in everything Barton except for his aids.”

Peter’s laugh followed Tony’s exit, and if the hero ran a hand down Goose’s spine on the way out, neither of them commented on it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna try to update every Saturday!
> 
> Also, thank you for all the kudos! I never expected anything to really come from this story ahh

**Friday, 5:30 PM**

It was a rare occasion for Scott Lang to visit the compound, but Cassie was with her mother and Hope wanted a ‘me day.’ Which was understandable! It just… got a little lonely. You know, all alone. And stuff.

But, that was why Scott wandered around the common area, in search of  _ someone _ . Clint was probably the easiest person for him to talk to, but Sam Wilson wasn’t that bad either. Well, besides all the size jokes. It wasn’t too bad, seeing as Scott didn’t have any insecurities dealing with his height or his size. The only living being he had run into so far, however, was a single tabby cat.

Scott wasn’t against cats, despite the many times he was riding an ant (most recently it was Ant-onio) and a stray cat would chase the pair down. So, without a second thought, the reformed-criminal reached out a hand for the cat to sniff and went to rub their head once the appendage was deemed acceptable. Ever since he was a child, Scott always wanted his own pet. Of course, he had the mentality of dogs being the absolute  _ best  _ animal to have for a long time. That bias had slowly begun to drop, but there was never an opportunity to have a pet himself. The closest he had gotten was taking care of the ant that had been magnified. 

After a while, Scott had moved to sit beside the feline on the main sofa and the cat crawled their way onto his lap. It felt as if he had been chosen by this creature and made sure not to jostle his new guest. A soft  _ clink _ drew the hero’s attention and Scott analyzed a tag with the hand not occupied by petting. 

“Goose, huh? What an adorable name for an adorable kitty,” Scott scratched under Goose’s chin and watched with amusement as the cat tilted their head up approvingly. Any form of company was company, Scott supposed. “Kind of wish you could tell me your gender though, I’m not good at discerning that.”

Soft footsteps dragged his attention away from the purring cat in his lap to see one of the more recent additions to the Avengers. Spider-Man stood just behind the couch in his civilian clothing, which consisted of a loose zip-up jacket and baggy sweatpants. They had met before, many times in fact, but never alone. 

“Oh, hi Mr. Lang--” Scott shot Peter a look, and the teen quickly corrected himself, “I mean, Scott. I see you’ve introduced yourself to yet another person, Goose.”

Peter leaned forward to run a hand down Goose’s flank for a moment before withdrawing. Then, after a moment’s hesitation, he took a seat next to the ex-con. Scott sent him a smile and lifted both arms up on an offer for Peter to take the animal. 

“They’re all yours, Pete. I didn’t know you had a cat-- I didn’t expect Stark to allow one in here if I’m being honest,” an easy grin was sent to the kid to show he wasn’t really being serious. Thankfully, Peter gave a laugh while he scooped Goose up.

They made a noise of protest at first and even reached their paws out to Scott, but after recognizing their man-handler the cat went more or less limp. 

“She’s not mine,” Peter explained while he got situated with Goose climbing up his chest to lay across his shoulders. “Miss Carol, er, Captain Marvel-- I’m not sure if you know her or not-- asked for me to look after her. I don’t have anything really going on this weekend so I agreed.”

Scott shared a shrug with the kid. “I get you. I don’t really have anything to do either, that’s why I’m here. But, should she be left around in an uncommon area?”

Peter shifted and Goose let out a noise of agitation (as if she comprehended what Scott had said and was annoyed at the thought that she couldn’t take care of herself). Scott reached up and rubbed behind Goose’s ears in a way of apology. 

“I had to take my binder off. Goose was being restless and kept pawing at me until I resigned,” Peter rolled his eyes and Scott chuckled.

“Man, Goose, such a caring friend you are. Thanks for looking out for him,” Scott ruffled Peter’s hair before doing something similar, but more gentle, to Goose. The arachnid huffed but didn’t comment. 

A handful of minutes passed with Peter on his phone scrolling through one of many social media and Scott refreshing his magic knowledge. That gave the adult an idea. Definitely not an idea fit for an adult, but it drew a grin onto Scott’s face.

“Hey Peter, Goose, do you know any magic tricks?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I had a busy Saturday for the first time in a while, so sorry for the sorta late in the day post. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Also!! Thank you to everyone who gave this story Kudos! It means so much to me.

**Friday, 7:25 PM**

Every few weeks, when Peter would be at the Avengers’ compound for the weekend, Ned and MJ would go over for a session that was made up of: doing homework, fucking around, eating a dinner that Steve would frown upon, and then (hopefully) going to bed before three in the morning. 

That time around, the pair were picked up by the Black Widow and Hawkeye. It wasn’t as if the two high schoolers hadn’t met most of the team before, but it  _ was  _ the first time any of the heroes had picked them up. Normally, Happy would swing by around six o’clock to get them from one of their homes and they’d arrive at the compound in half an hour. Because, like any normal person, Happy followed the rules of the road when not in an emergency. 

Natasha Romanoff was  _ not a normal person _ . Of course, after getting over the initial shock, MJ began to discuss whatever political situation was happening then and Ned did all he could to not spout the random questions that popped into his brain. The first red flag was when Natasha turned the engine over Clint latched onto what he could. The second was when the archer turned to the backseat. 

“I’d hang on, if I were you.” Was all the warning they got before Natasha peeled out of the parking spot and swerved around any stationary cars.

Ned braced against the door, “Oh god we’re going to crash, oh my god, oh fuck.”

Despite not being very religious, Ned repeated prayers over in his head and struggled not to barf when the car took a sharp left at an intersection. 

_ This is it, this is how I die!  _ The teen screwed his eyes shut,  _ I want Peter to inherit all my LEGO sets. _

A snort to his right drew Ned’s attention and he looked to see Michele not fazed, she wasn’t even holding the hand brace. He always knew the girl was a robot, and that proved it.

“Don’t be such a pussy, Leeds. My dad pushes 100 in 30 zones,” the dark-skinned teen simply pulled out a book and leaned back into her seat. 

Clint shared a look of horror with Ned. “Oh lord,” Hawkeye put his head in one hand, “there’s two of them.”

On the bright side, the ride was only ten minutes due to the Black Widow’s total disregard for speed limits and stop-signs (when Ned brought it up later, Peter mentioned how the police know Natasha’s license plate by heart and has given up on pulling her over). Peter was waiting outside to greet them and the two boys took a moment to share their handshake. 

“C’mon, you guys can head to my room. I’ll be there in a bit, I have to track down Goose.”

No more explanation was given and Peter went inside. MJ pushed past Ned with faux annoyance and they both started towards their friend’s room with little to no discussion. There weren’t any other people around it seemed, but they did see Mr. Lang out in the backyard with Wanda. Ned liked Scott, he was like your uncle that didn’t really have his life together but stayed funny and positive, and Wanda was fun to talk too. All they shared was a wave before entering Peter’s room. 

“MJ… did Peter say he had to find a goose?” Ned dropped his bag onto the floor and began to dig out his homework when he asked.

MJ did the same but she claimed the only desk in the room, “Hell if I know. Parker is a weirdo that swings around in a costume, is him chasing down a goose  _ that  _ weird?”

She had a point, so he just shrugged in response and jumped on the bed to start on their science worksheet. Ned was only a few questions into his work when the door flew open and a cat scrambled under the bed. Running in after them was Peter with a squirt bottle clutched in his hand.

“I swear to god!” Peter crouched down to peer under the bed, “You better get out here and apologize for scratching up the curtains!” 

“Umm…” Ned crawled to the side of the bed to watch, “are you okay?”

Peter didn’t give him an answer and reached an arm under the bed before he pulled out the cat. If a cat could look remorseful, then Ned would say this one did. 

“So that’s Goose?” MJ inquired as she closed her book and inspected the cat. 

“Yup,” Peter confirmed and set Goose on the bed next to Ned. Without hesitation, the cat climbed into the boy’s lap as if it gave them protection. Peter sent them a glare.

With heaps of hesitation Ned lowered a hand onto Goose’s head. While the cat didn’t seem to care, they did shuffle closer to Ned’s belly.

“Dude, why are you chasing a cat around?”

Peter huffed while he glared towards the feline, “This jackass decided to scratch up the common room’s curtains! Like, I know you know better! Carol even mentioned how flerkens have a better brain capacity than human cats.”

It took a minute for the puzzle to piece itself together in Ned’s brain, but the second it did the boy had bolted from his seat (sadly startling Goose). He hugged a far wall and gapped at the cat- no,  _ flerken _ — whatever the  _ fuck  _ that was— as they climbed their way onto the desk.

Listen, from what Ned had learned, anything abnormal was either dangerous or an alien. A lot of the time it was both. He could vividly remember the day Peter came to school with a snake hidden in his backpack and that animal turned out to be the god damn  _ God of Mischief. _

“Please don’t be a demigod,  _ please don’t be a demigod, _ ” New muttered to himself as Peter peeled the cat-look-a-like away from MJ.

Peter (with his superhuman senses) had obviously heard him. The teen spun around with the creature in his arms and faced his friend with a deadpan look.

“No, she’s not a demigod. Trust me. Goose is harmless— well, to us at least.”

Ned let out a sigh and relaxed, until MJ brought up the obvious.

She tapped her pencil against the table to gain his attention, before telling Ned, “That  _ does  _ mean she is dangerous, though. Keep on her good side, Leeds.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhhh so??? I'm sorry about not posting for-- uh, over a month now. I'll explain more in the endnotes so if you really care just read those ig  
> This chapter is probably my favorite of them all so far. I just,, really love Eddie and Venom honestly. 
> 
> If you notice any mistakes please point them out so I can fix 'em

**Saturday, 11:00 AM**

**_Food._ **

Eddie sighed. 

**_Food, Eddie. We need food._ **

_ We’ve got a couple of miles to go, love, we can eat when we get there. _

Venom’s growl reverberated throughout their being and Eddie pointedly ignored it. After all, having to take a cross-country road trip was all because of the symbiote. The reporter never liked flying (due to having to be in a contained space very far into the sky with no control) but having some drugs to knock him out helped him make due up until then. Neither of the pair wanted to suffer due to the high frequencies an airplane emits. So, a drive it was. 

The fact they had to make the trip was  _ also _ Venom’s fault. Well, it was technically all Drake’s fault when it came down to it, but they were the ones that got contacted by the Avengers. Instead of having a meeting near  _ their _ house, the pair  _ had _ to make a trip to New York. God damn self-intitled heroes. 

Stark had offered to comp the plane tickets or even send one of his own private jets, but Eddie still had to refuse it. After making decent time with Venom taking the wheel whenever Eddie needed to rest, it was the beginning of day four when they pulled up to the compound. While their motorbike was top-of-the-line (when Eddie had first bought it, anyway) it was still uncomfortable to ride for a long amount of time. 

He didn’t even need his other to nag him in order for Eddie to jump off their bike as soon as they slowed to a stop. They knew the biker jacket was made to protect the body in case of an incident ( **_We will keep us safe! Healing us is not an issue…_ ** _ I’d rather not get injured in the first place, Vee.)  _ but both Venom and Eddie craved the comfort of a baggy, pull-over. So, without a second thought, a tendril reached into their duffle bag and made quick work of switching their outer garments. 

Thankfully, while the reporter in him told Eddie there were sure to be cameras about, no one seemed to be around. Stark had also promised, after the threat of a lawsuit, that any recorded material would be destroyed after the meeting, and people would sign NDAs if needed. They ran this by an old lawyer friend before accepting the offer fully. Everything seemed fine, and their contact even spoke well of one of the younger members of the compound. 

“Where the hell is the entrance? Why is modern architecture so confusing?” Eddie muttered out loud before shoving their hands into the jacket’s pockets and starting towards the building. 

The first person they came across was a largely built man who eyed them with suspicion. Eddie waved their hand, Venom grumbled how uncool that was.

It took the man no time at all to approach them, “I’m sorry. This is an Avengers’ only facility. Allow me to escort you off the premises--” 

When he saw the hand reaching for their person, Eddie knew he had to say something before Venom reacted in his hungry, annoyed state. A few steps back and a raise of his hands, he tried to not be threatening.

“Er, sorry, I’m Eddie Brock. Tony Stark asked me here..?”

The man blinked and seemed to be considering his options. At least he stopped approaching, which gave Eddie a couple of moments to reel his other back in. 

_ He’s just doing his job!  _ Exacerbation seeped into his mental conversation,  _ he’s probably security or something, we can’t eat him just because he’s doing what he’s paid to do. _

**_He is in our way, keeping us from food. I can smell chocolate in the air… so close…_ **

Throat clearing got their attention and Eddie turned their head towards the man. He had his arms crossed and only looked slightly more receptive.

“Follow me, please. Seems like you arrived earlier than expected.”

Without a second word, the man turned and started towards a glass wall. What a welcome…

“Sorry, um, we are a little hungry--” Eddie sprang after him, not even noticing his slip up, “would we be able to get some food?”

What looked to be a wall turned out to be a sliding glass door, because as soon as they got close it opened inward with no resistance. All the pair got in response was a nod. 

“Thanks, Mister..?”

“Hogan.”

There’s a name so they didn’t have to keep addressing him as ‘the man.’

**_I liked it._ ** _ Shut.  _

Mr. Hogan left them in a sitting room with the promise to come back soon, and with food and drink. Before the chance even came, however, a young boy with a cat and chocolate in his arms wandered in. 

He was shoving a chunk of milk chocolate into his mouth ( _ Why can we determine that just by the smell? _ ) when his eyes landed on Eddie’s person. Without helping it, the human gave another wave with a genuine smile due to Venom’s grunting. 

The kid opened his mouth to say something (probably to introduce himself) when the cat in his arms snagged the remainder of his chocolate and then bolted to the seated partners. A bewildered squawk escaped the stranger while he reached for the cat.

“Goose! No! I don’t think you can eat that!”

Eddie had barely even processed the situation when the cat, Goose, bound up to them and deposited the lump of chocolate in their lap. Only a moment later did Venom shoot a tether that almost consumed the chocolate whole. The pleased  _ humm  _ the symbiote let out almost distracted Eddie from the literal child who was gaping at them.  _ Shit. _

“Oh-- my--  _ god _ !” the kid exclaimed. His tone sounded more excited than scared, which took Eddie by surprise. 

The adult stood up abruptly (making sure to not hit the cat--  **_Flerken, Eddie. She is a flerken._ ** _ Okay, so--  _ he made sure not to hit the _ flerken _ .) and flailed their hands. “Look, kid--”

Said kid had taken steps towards them, and absentmindedly supplied his name: “Peter. Not a kid.”

“Look,  _ Peter _ ,” Eddie would have taken a step back but their calves were already pressed against the front of the chair. “I’m sure there is a completely reasonable explanation for what you think you saw! Lemme just, quickly think of one…”

Venom never pulled in his tether and it swiftly morphed into the silky black ink of the alien’s head.

**“For a reporter, Eddie, you are not good with words.”**

“Okay, love, not what I need to be hearing right now, alright? We’re hungry and tired and now this kid-- sorry, Peter here is probably in shock and his cat won’t  _ stop rubbing our damn leg! _ ” 

He ignored his other’s comment about how the correct species for the being was flerken. 

That snapped Peter out of the daze he had lulled into while watching Venom materialize and then the bickering that followed. He gathered Goose into his arms and struggled as the flerken tried her best to reach out to the symbiote. 

“I’m so sorry! While she’s very chill, Goose never jumps up to people like that normally!”

Eddie paused in his argument and turned towards Peter. “That’s what you’re most worried about? Not the parasite oozing from my body?”

Said ooze growled at their partner,  **“Not. A. Parasite…”**

“Sorry, sorry,” Eddie reached over and stroked Venom’s head, “you know I meant nothing of it.”

The huff he got in reply was good enough. 

“Well…” Peter rubbed his neck, seeing as Goose had calmed down once Venom reached out a bit to pet her, “I’m used to weird shit. I mean, if someone has an alien gooey S/O who am I to judge?”

Okay, something was wrong with this kid. Eddie had decided that.

“Okay then… Thanks for the chocolate, I guess. We’ve been pretty hungry and Vee says certain foods have chemicals we need…”

Peter waved them off, still gazing interestedly at Venom’s form, “No worries. May says I eat too many sweets anyway. It’s nice to meet you two! What’re your names?”

**“Idiot, stupid Eddie. Forgetting introductions.”**

“I’m sorry I was too busy  _ panicking!  _ Anyway, I’m Eddie Brock, and you can call him Venom.”   
  
That made Peter’s eyes finally shift to the human part of their pair. “Eddie Brock? As in the reporter? Oh, man! I loved your show! It’s so great to meet you! MJ will be so pissed she refused my offer to stay today.”

Eddie couldn’t help but laugh, teenagers will be teenagers he supposed.

“Excuse me,” a voice spoke from the other side of the room. Everyone jumped and turned to see Mr. Hogan standing there, a platter in his hands. 

“Hey-ya, Happy.”

Mr. Hogan nodded at Peter and gave him a smile, “Hi, Peter. Boss asked me to tell you to stop bugging our guests and that you need to clean up the accident that happened in Steve’s room.”

Peter groaned, “It’s not  _ my fault  _ that Steve basically threw Goose out a window! Who the hell reacts to a cat invading their room that way!”

Regardless, the kid pulled Goose away from Venom (both of which reacted sadly) and headed for the exit. “She holds a grudge, ya’know. I doubt Steve will even see it coming…”

His grumblings followed the boy out of the room and Eddie saw Mr. Hogan roll his eyes. Seems like that was a common occurrence. 

“Now,” Hogan said, turning to address the only people left in the room, “if you’d please follow me. Mr. Stark, Captain Rodgers, and Miss Gamora are waiting to speak with you.”

Venom had yet to retreat into their body and it seemed like he wasn’t doing it anytime soon. As they followed Mr. Hogan into an elevator, Eddie privately spoke to his partner.

_ Hey, Vee… What’s a flerken? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as you can probably tell, I have a hard time focusing on things. Mainly bc I can't really split my attention between multiple things. I got the new Animal Crossing game which just sucked me in and then I got the Mystery Dungeon reboot and???
> 
> My college semester ended recently, however, so that's one less thing I need to worry about. I have one more chapter for this story already done and know where I'm heading towards-- so I should be fine with finishing this thing up with no more trouble than I already have.
> 
> Thanks to the people that have actually stuck around as well,, ahhhh


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you notice any mistakes (spelling or grammatical) please point them out so I can go back and correct them. Thanks!
> 
> (Also,,,, thanks for so many hits and kudos this is so great ahhhh. Makes me happy I started posting again)

**Saturday, 12:30**

It wasn’t a good day. Thankfully it wasn’t a _bad_ day either, but it definitely was not a good one. Steve was held up with an important Avengers’ meet (something about a threat assessment and possible recruitment.) and not even _Sam_ was around. Birdbrain was out with Scott Lang, something about Ant-Man needing Sam’s experience with support groups. Bucky didn’t know, and he surely didn’t ask. 

So, when Bucky caught Peter leaving Steve’s room with a disgusted look on the kid’s face, he took it as an opportunity to distract himself. After catching wind of the foul-smelling bag in the teen’s hands, he instantly knew what was up. 

“Hey, kid,” the man said in a way of greeting, “Stevie told me what happened in there this morning. Sorry about that, he’s never been really good with animals.”

Peter shot him a look before scrunching his nose and going towards the nearest bin.

“Not being good with animals does not equal throwing a whole-ass _cat_ out the window of your second-floor bedroom!”

Bucky patted the other hero on the shoulder with his flesh hand, not trusting his current state of mental control. “I don’t condone his methods, but you really should keep a better handle on your cat.”

After depositing the rubbish in the trash, Peter turned his pout towards Bucky. Oh jeez, it was known that no one in the compound could truly resist Peter when he purposefully pulled faces. If it had been a better day, Bucky would have caved right then and there and gone to lecture Steve as soon as he left that meeting room. 

However, the lack of emotion emitted must have clued Peter into how the ex-solder was feeling because it took less than a second for the kid to gesture for Bucky to follow him. 

Peter was good people, despite not really knowing all that Bucky had been through, the teen was still understanding and helpful in grounding. He didn’t even have to think about it before accompanying Peter. They made their way into a side room (Bucky has seen the building plans multiple times and he still didn’t fully know the compound’s layout) that had, apparently, been transformed into a cat room. 

Cat trees were littered around and there were multiple scratching posts. Large objects had also been hung from the ceiling with Peter’s webs, again not knowing or asking. A lone, but quite large, litter box was tucked into a corner. Even though Peter had been tasked with watching this cat only yesterday, he seemed to have gathered his materials rather quickly.

Laying on a fuzzy rug was a cat, Goose was her name, laying on her back with her hind legs stretched towards the ceiling. Peter made a quiet _psst psst psst_ and Goose shoot her head towards the two before contorting herself onto her paws and lunging over to them.

Bucky’s first instinct was to slap the approaching being away from himself. Thankfully, Bucky was able to firmly remind himself that Goose was just a _cat_ and she surely _was not a threat_ soon enough to have his muscles relaxed when Goose reached them. Peter must have been thrilled that he got the feline to come to him because his face broke out into a bright smile. 

One of the best things about Peter was that his smile was contagious as hell, and Bucky was essentially forced to crack a small smile. 

“Here, Mr. Barnes, can I see your hand?” 

The request caught him off guard. 

Hesitation radiated from him and Peter quickly clarifed, “I mean your flesh one!” Bucky was grateful he hadn’t said ‘normal.’ “Well, either would do. But, you’ll want to feel Goose’s fur. It’s really soft and she’s always so warm.”

“Um, you want me to… to pet her?” It was such an unusual situation that Bucky had to process it a handful of times. Instead of backtracking, as Bucky expected, Peter only nodded and held out his own hand.

The teen was patient and didn’t rush the man even when it took close to two minutes for Bucky to gather up the courage. Steve was the only one Bucky had recently participated skin-on-skin contact with and having Peter hold his hand was an interesting sensation. While Bucky didn’t dislike it, he wasn’t completely sure he was comfortable with it. 

Thankfully, the contact ended only after a few minutes because Peter was then gently guiding Bucky’s hand to Goose’s orange fur. 

The strands _were_ soft, they didn’t flow like Clint’s dog Lucky’s fur, but Bucky can’t remember if he had even touched a cat before. So, without anything to really compare it to, it was nice. Petting an animal must be human nature because even without his direction Bucky’s hand started to stroke Goose. The soft fur and warm rumble Goose was releasing was borderline hypnotizing. It wasn’t for a few more moments did the man realize the cat was purring.

Without really knowing what happened, Goose had made her way to where Bucky’s thighs and knees connected. She flopped down on his legs and he didn’t even flinch when one of her paws landed on his kneecap in a weird way. 

“I’ll leave y’all to it,” Peter spoke, breaking the silence that had fallen in the room. “Her toys are over in that corner, but she might want to eat in a bit. Don’t freak out when she does, I promise she’s completely harmless.”

Peter retreated from the room as he pulled out his phone, not paying attention to Bucky’s puzzled expression. Once he was left alone with the cat, Bucky looked down at the animal with a questioning look.

“What the hell was that cryptic shit? Don’t transform into a giant alien monster, please.”

Goose didn’t give an answer (not that Bucky had really expected one), she just looked up at him before breaking out into a large yawn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last prewritten chapter, but I know where I'm going so hopefully I can stick back to posting on Saturdays.
> 
> I love Bucky a lot but this is really one of the first times I've written him so I hope it fits,,,


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